


Learning to Swim

by DesertVixen



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: F/M, First Kiss, Missing Scene, Post-The Last Jedi, Quiet, Swimming, Touch-Starved
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-09
Updated: 2018-06-09
Packaged: 2019-05-20 04:30:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14887677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DesertVixen/pseuds/DesertVixen
Summary: Finn, Rey, and Poe Dameron have a little downtime...





	Learning to Swim

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Rivulet027](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rivulet027/gifts).



They all needed a break.

Since the events on Crait, they had been stuck on ships. People had been crammed into the Falcon well past the limits of comfort, and damn near the limit of safety. They had gone from system to system, meeting old contacts and questionable people, trying to bring truth to Master Skywalker’s statement, that the Rebellion had been reborn. Finally, they had come to rest on Yavin 4, using the abandoned Rebel base as shelter. It gave everyone the chance to spread out a little, which they all needed.

Poe had spent time as a child on Yavin, and had arranged to take Rey and Finn on a little overnight trip to visit some of his favorite spots. Rey had agreed readily enough, but she hadn’t realized it would involve…this.

Rey flushed as Finn and Poe stripped down to close-fitting shorts beside the pool. It wasn’t news to her that they were both good-looking men – and well-built men – but somehow, she noticed it more out here when they were alone. More than that, she was more aware about how she felt about them being almost naked.

Or maybe it was because she was also wearing a pair of shorts and close-cropped top that left a lot of skin bare – not her usual outfit.

Or maybe it was because she was alone with them in a secluded pool in the middle of nowhere.

When she had confessed that she didn’t know how to swim, Poe had laughed and said it was no problem. “We’ll throw you in and you’ll figure it out.”

The look on her face made him laugh. 

“Don’t worry. You’re not the first desert dweller I’ve taught to swim.”

And he had taught her. Maybe she couldn’t quite manage the sleek elegance and speed he exhibited in the water, like a predator in its natural environment, but Rey could keep herself afloat and swim enough to enjoy it.

She didn’t need to swim that much anyway. A good deal of the pool was fairly shallow, only coming up to her waist. Poe had taught her to float there, his hands under her body. Floating had been a new and incredible experience – surrounded by the water, coolness lapping at her skin, the sounds of the world around her swallowed up by the water. She opened herself briefly to the Force, feeling all the life in the water…she didn’t ever want to get out.

Until Finn splashed her right in the face. 

She had to splash him back, of course, and then Poe had to splash both of them. The splashing war escalated until Rey found herself being picked up by Poe, being held over his head.

“Just what do you think you’re doing?” She yelled.

“Did you think I was joking about throwing you in?” There was a laugh in his voice, and she just knew he was grinning that devil-may-care grin of his, the one that said he was trouble. 

Rey thought it was sexy as anything – or did when he wasn’t getting ready to throw her in water.

She would get even with him, she decided as she went flying.

*** 

Rey could count on both hands the number of times she had been able to enjoy a bath. Water had always been at a premium, and she viewed using anything other than the sonic shower to clean herself as a luxury. Here, however, Poe had showed her and Finn the “natural shower” – a small waterfall set away from the hot spring itself – where they could wash before entering the pool to relax. Their temporary living quarters were set up in a corner of the cave, where Poe had assured them they would be quite comfortable.

It felt incredible to stand under the constant flow of water and wash her hair and body, to get truly clean, to feel her worries wash away with the water. The evening air felt pleasantly cool on her skin when she was finished, and she twisted her hair up into a loose bun.

Finn and Poe were already in the water, so Rey slid in, swimming the short distance to the stone ledge they were sitting on – Poe, with this head tipped back to look up at the starry sky, Finn watching her with appreciation. 

She had missed him so much, Rey thought as she pulled herself up onto the ledge between them. Rey had been forced to leave on her last-best-hope mission for Leia when Finn was still in a healing stasis, had been forced to leave without saying goodbye. Time had not stood still for either of them – Rey had been forced to confront what she was, and Finn had gone on his own crazy mission to try and save the Resistance. Rey wasn’t sure how his relationship with Rose would affect things, but she had decided not to worry about it tonight. Surely the two of them were entitled to a single night.

The three of them, Rey told herself. She wasn’t entirely sure about Poe either, but she knew he was important.

“This is nice,” Finn said softly, reaching out and resting his hand on her shoulder.

“It is,” Rey agreed.

Touch was always a sensitive subject for Rey. She had been deprived of it for so long on Jakku due to her isolation. Since hooking up with the Resistance – or the Rebellion, she supposed – she had not quite adapted to how touchy some people could be. It wasn’t that she didn’t like it, but it always surprised her a little that someone wanted to touch her. She was still working on it.

Touching back was a little easier for her. She slid closer to Finn, until her hip met his, until she could rest her head on his shoulder, feel him tighten his arm around her.

“This is nicer,” he said after a minute, and Rey nodded, enjoying the way his fingers traced lazy patterns on her skin. The warm water wrapped around them, soothing away cares. They had no need to speak, holding each other in silence.

After awhile, Rey turned her head to see Poe, still stargazing. She wondered what he was seeing when he looked up there, if he was imagining flying among them. 

What mattered was that he wasn’t looking at them. It was almost like being alone, and the only thing that gave her the courage to make the next move. She sat up, pulling away from Finn, and the look of disappointment on his face made her smile.

The disappointment did not last very long, because she kissed him. 

She had never kissed anyone before, not like this – sliding together, becoming one. 

He kissed her back, holding her as if he might never let go of her again.

Rey felt as if time had stopped for them, until the spell was broken by the sound of splashing. She turned to look, a little dazed, and saw Poe standing in water up to his waist. It gave the momentary illusion of him being some sort of water-creature, some vision she might have dreamed.

“I’ll go back to the cave, give you two a little privacy.” He smiled at her, that same smile he’d been wearing earlier. “Try not to drown out here.”

She was never sure what made her say it, but she didn’t have cause to regret it.

“You don’t have to go,” Rey said softly.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you like this! I was trying to incorporate some of your prompts (and yes, enjoying the mental images), but going for your Finn/Rey prompt with hints at Finn/Rey/Poe. I don't know what your stand on Rose is, so I side-stepped that whole relationship to give Finn and Rey this little bubble of time.


End file.
